Conflict of Interest
by Howlitzer
Summary: In the middle of a great war, even legendary heroes have people who worry about them. A young woman expresses her frustrations in an attempt to let someone know that they were far from expendable.


Been slumping. I'm going to try to light a fire under myself in the next while.

Got this idea at random from about…two days ago now. Hope it's something good for you readers.

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Conflict of Interest

[Zero 2]

* * *

"So…what's the next mission you have lined up, Elpizo?"

"Are you sure you want to rush into one so soon, Zero?" the Resistance commander said, brushing back his hair. "You seem tired."

"I'm fine…let's just get this over with."

"Zero!"

He turned his head towards one of the entrances to the command room, noting the young scientist glaring at him.

"Ciel…what is it?"

She took a moment to calm herself down before continuing. "I need to see you, please. It's important."

"How important?"

She gave him another intense stare. "In my opinion, it's something that needs to be taken care of right now, Zero."

"That's fine, then. I'll be back, Commander."

"Yes, yes…take your time, Mister Legendary Hero."

"…Whatever."

Neither Zero or Ciel said a word as they walked into the blonde girl's laboratory, where she instructed the reploid to take a seat in her chair.

"I'm fine standing-"

"Sit down. Right now, Zero."

There was an edge to her voice today, he noted. Better do what she said.

He sat down as she had her back turned to him, trying to compose herself. It wouldn't do well to come off as bitter and upset, right?

"Zero…" she said, turning around.

"Yeah, what is it?"

But as she took another look at him, it became that much harder to keep herself in check.

He had been damaged all over, with scratches, cracks, and chips everywhere on his…person, if you could call it that. And yet, he refused to take a break or even give himself some decent rest. It didn't matter that he was a reploid, he was still…

Okay, calm…calm and easy.

"Zero, I need you to stop doing missions for a while."

He gave her what seemed like his poker face…though it was hard to tell if it wasn't his normal look that she was getting.

"And why is that?"

"Don't play games, Zero. You know full well why. You managed to make it back to us alive, but that doesn't mean that you're invincible."

"I know that. I'm just doing what I have to do to stop Neo Arcadia."

"And you're doing that so brilliantly, Zero. But there's a limit to everything. Don't push yourself over the edge like this."

"I'm fine, Ciel."

"You're not fine, you need to get fixed up and rested. Hold off on the missions for a while."

"Give me a reason why I should." He shot back at her unflinchingly.

"You're hurting yourself."

"So what…I'm a soldier, aren't I?"

"That _doesn't_ mean you can do things like that. Take a break, okay?"

"I don't have the time to just rest. Neo Arcadia isn't going to wait for us to make the first move; we have to start moving ourselves in some way."

"That's not an excuse to wear yourself down!"

"I'm not wearing myself down, Ciel. Stop worrying so much."

She felt herself start to slip a little at that. "Stop…stop worrying so much…? Are you really serious? How the hell can I stop worrying so much? Tell me, Zero…just tell me."

"Just take it easy, that's all. I'll be-"

"Fine. Yeah, you'll be fine, sure. Just like the last time, _right_? Well, you know what, Zero? I'll confess something to you."

She stepped forward and leaned close to him.

"I've been lying just a _little_ bit, you see. I'm so worried about what happens to you on those missions that sometimes I can't even think straight. I'm so worried about what happens to you on those missions that I get a little depressed sometimes, and I can't even get myself to work on something that I need to. I'm so worried that sometimes I can't sleep, and when I do sleep, a lot of times I have nightmares. I'm so worried that sometimes thoughts go through my head and I have lock myself up in here because I can't stop crying. So tell me, tell me how I can get rid of all of those worries when I have to look at you like _this_ all of the time, and maybe I'll stop _worrying_ so much, alright?"

"Ciel-"

"But I guess I'm not allowed to worry about you since you're the 'Legendary Hero' or whatever the hell it is they call you, right?" she said, her voice rising with anger. "I'm so sure you can handle yourself around all of that. So, I'll fold! I'll let you go on all of those _wonderful_ missions Elpizo is assigning you, and I'll just _stop_ worrying about you, Zero, just like you've asked. I'll just take it _easy_, okay?"

"…"

"Oh, you're not too happy about this, are you? Even though I'm letting do whatever you want now…"

She turned away and made her way out of the lab.

"Guess I can't win, can I," she said sadly.

Zero sighed and went over what Ciel had just said to him.

Maybe he had been taking it a bit rough lately, like she said. It was that and…maybe he had to consider her feelings in this as well. Her whole intention was to stop all of the fighting with a new energy source, and if she couldn't do that, then the least amount of fighting was preferred. Perhaps him going on these solo missions stressed her out as much as her work did at times.

Right…he wasn't just a hero or a soldier to her, was he? That's why she was so worked up.

"Still…she worries too much. But she's also right, I have to take care of myself sometimes. For her sake as much as my own."

He supposed it was time to go now.

"I messed up, didn't I?"

"Ow-!"

Zero felt something hit him as he walked through the automatic door. And he didn't remember making any noises like that, either.

"Owww…I need to look where I'm going more often."

"Ciel?"

"Oh, Zero…um, I…" Ciel had come back to apologize, thinking she might have been a bit harsh.

He waved a hand at her. "Don't worry about it. I guess I got the message. But do me a favour, will you?"

"Yes, Zero?"

"Stop worrying so much…I don't like knowing I've made a girl cry."

Ciel put her hands on her hips as if to scold him. "Is that _really_ your reason, Zero?"

He shrugged. "Perhaps."

"Zero…listen, I know that you'll do your best to come back each time, but I can't help but worry about you, you know? Even though you have your own way of going about things…"

"Yeah…but some change is good as well, right?"

She nodded. "Sure…I'm sorry for getting so upset back there. I just had to get it off my chest."

"It's fine, I understand…I guess I'll take your words to heart and go easy for a while."

"Really?"

"Yeah…I'm going training."

"Training? That's not taking it easy at all!" she pouted.

"Says you. I'll be back in a while," he said while making his way to the command room.

"Honestly, you always find some way to twist my words, and you always have something to say when I speak to you…" Ciel went on, following behind.

"Yeah…" he said inattentively.

"And you're impatient…"

"Yeah…"

"And reckless!"

"Yeah…"

"And you can be totally insensitive…"

"Yeah…"

"And annoying, definitely annoying at times!"

"Yes, mother."

"Not to mention a troublemaker!"

"Right, that too…"

"Zero!"

"Yeah…"

He stood in the center of the Trans Server and looked back at her.

"If you ever start to change, even a little…"

"You'll never forgive me, right?"

"Not in a million years."

"…I guess that's fine."

"_Stand by for transfer, Zero._"

"Take care of yourself!"

"Okay."

"Don't push yourself too hard!"

"Alright."

"Request a transfer at the first sign of trouble!"

"Yeah."

"Zero?"

"Yeah?"

She smiled. "Thank you…"

"Shouldn't I be thanking you?"

"Thank me later…it's more than enough having you here…"

He gave her a grin as he disappeared into the light. "Is that so…"

"Yeah…because you mean a lot more to me than you know. So…"

She turned and made her way back to work.

"I need you back here, if we're going to make it through…no, actually...I'll need you here when we do make it through all of this."

Ciel clapped her hands together.

"Yeah…I'll definitely get there with you, Zero."


End file.
